Originally published: November 15, 2011

SMALL

MEDIUM

LARGE

It takes more than just horsepower to make a legend. It takes style, panache and, well, that little extra je ne sais quoi to grab people’s attention and, harder yet, keep them riveted. A lot of very forgettable performance cars have offered limpet-like handling and/or tire-scorching horsepower only to be forgotten as soon as the next big thing comes along. The ones that stand out — any Ferrari, most Porsches and Chevrolet’s iconic Corvette — have all captured our imagination in ways that the equally capable Jensens, Triumphs and Challengers have not.

And then there’s Ford’s Mustang. It virtually invented the pony car segment. Indeed, I’ll go out on a limb and say that, were it not for the Stang’s success, there might be no such thing as a mass-produced American sports car (and, yes, I include the Corvette in that statement). The Mustang has always captured our imagination. Except for the thankfully brief Mustang II period (which is best forgotten), it has been the iconic American sports car.

And, if iconic imagery were horsepower, the Shelby GT500 version of the Mustang would be the fastest car on the planet. Besides the obvious — that the Mustang is easily the most recognizable of American pony cars that have fuelled many a childhood fantasy — there’s the whole Shelby thing.

I’m talking, of course, about jowly-jawed Carroll who is (almost) to Ford high performance what Zora Arkus-Duntov was to Corvette and dear old Enzo was to Ferrari. Whether it be the nuclear-powered rollerskate that was the original Cobra or the very first 1968 version of the GT500 (powered by a 428 Cobra Jet laughably rated at a thoroughly unbelievable 335 horsepower), attaching the Shelby name to anything has long guaranteed there would be much burning of rubber and alienation of neighbours.

And one simple number tells you that this latest of madcap hot rods from Shelby is no less deviant: 550. As in horsepower. Yes, Ford, the company that’s been trumpeting environmentalism as if the whole world was California, ascribes its Blue Oval to something that at least aspires to playing with the Corvettes and Ferraris of the world.

To put those 550 horses into perspective, Ford says that makes the 2011 GT500 the most powerful production Mustang engine ever. It also makes the (relatively) lowly Mustang as powerful as the almost-as-iconic Ford GT (nee GT40) that the company resurrected about five years ago.

Such outrageous power is also an elixir that can salve all ills. I thought such snake oil (sorry, I couldn’t contain the bad pun) might be necessary. Even if the rest of the car were a complete bucket of excrement, thought I, as long as my eyes rolled back in their sockets every time I dumped the clutch, all manner of ills might be forgiven.

Thankfully, the rest of car is not said proverbial bucket. For one thing, the Shelby doesn’t handle half badly. It lacks the delicate balance that oozes from the more recently developed Boss 302, but my tester did have the recently developed SVT (Special Vehicles Team) developed suspension and, like all latter-day Mustangs, handles much better than anything with an archaic old solid rear axle has any right. On smooth — and even moderately bumpy — roads, roll is well contained and Ford’s latest adjustable (for boost and effort) electrical power steering is both delicate and communicative. Even the ride isn’t too bad until you hit seriously pockmarked roads, which, unfortunately, there are far too many in Southern Ontario. But again, for anything this stiffly suspended with a rear suspension system designed at the turn of the 20th century, the GT500’s competence is amazing.

I would make one change, however. Indeed, I would recommend said change to prospective owners at time of purchase. If you opt for the previously mentioned SVT handling package, try to coerce the salesperson to swap out the Goodyear F1 GS-2s for more street-oriented tires. While I’m sure the Goodyears provide prodigious grip when flogged hard, like all seriously sporty rubber, they need substantial amounts of heat to generate their limpet-like grip. First thing in the morning they’re as greasy as a Donald Trump handshake, the souped-up Stang’s rubber and the pavement seemingly in the midst of an acrimonious divorce. I hesitate to think what they’d be like in the rain.

Of course, their ability to form a relationship, if not a bond, with the tarmac is not helped by having to contain a motor that pumps out 510 pound-feet of torque, most of which seems to be available as soon as you put the key in the ignition. Though it is substantially smaller than the 428-cubic-inch monsters of yore, the V8’s 5.4 litres is still a hefty amount of displacement these days. Lob a supercharger on top of that, throw in double overhead cams and four valves in each cylinder head for good measure and you have a recipe for horsepower. And since it’s supercharged (rather than turbo’d), all that torque is available as soon as the starter motor coaxes that big V8 to fire.

It does absolutely everything it should. It belches V8 basso profundo and tire squeals in equal measure. It’ll pin you back in the new Recaro seats with but a whiff of throttle. And given its head, it’ll scoot to 100 kilometres an hour in just four and a half seconds, an admirable number that still doesn’t manage to do its incredible performance justice. Ford bills this as its most potent pony car of all time and riffing on the throttle is proof that even marketers occasionally tell the truth.

Unfortunately, this is also Ford’s “be all you can be” Mustang and the GT500’s interior is, frankly, a letdown. While there are functional upgrades to the cabin, the layout, design and switchgear are basically the same. And while that may (barely) work for a $21,949 Mustang V6, said cheapness has no place in something purporting to be topflight. Oh, Ford makes much of the new SVT-designed Recaro front bucket seats, complete with side bolstering and thoroughly retro leather pleating. And the stereo is a suitably powerful Shaker 500 affair. But the additions can’t disguise the fact that the Mustang’s basic decor looks like it was designed by geriatric pencil pushers seconded from the now-defunct Crown Victoria program.

It’s made all the more glaring by a price tag that can only be described as opportunistic. The base price for a 2011 GT500 is $58,999 and my tester would have set me back $65,623 before even that usurious 13% HST we’re told is so essential for Ontario’s public coffers (the one bargain is the aforementioned TrackPack which added those grippy Goodyears, different aluminum rims and a 3.73:1 rear axle for only $2,000). It’s much too much of a stretch for the basic Mustang nameplate and design. While the uptick might be justifiable had Ford finally engineered a fully independent rear suspension specific to the GT and upgraded the interior decor, the supercharger, suspension and brake upgrades (not to mention the previously mentioned Recaro seats) by themselves simply don’t warrant such a massive increase over a bare-bones GT.

The solution is simple. I heartily recommend this latest in the long line of Cobras. I’d just wait a few years until it is superseded by something even more snake-bitten and the bloom is off this proverbial rose. The latest GT500 is another great Shelby — if it were $15,000 cheaper.